There are not many policy positions that overlap between a potential Trump administration and a future Harris administration, but domestic manufacturing is well-positioned near the top of the both candidates' agendas. The next president will most certainly have a significant focus on policies that will strengthen domestic manufacturing in the future.
The bigger question is how a new administration will actually move the needle on domestic manufacturing. Will they do so through tariffs? Will they do so through incentives? Will they do so through tax reforms? Will they do so through other trade policies? Will they do so through grants? Or will they produce other new and innovative solutions that are not on the table?
Of course, spurring domestic manufacturing is not a new aspirational goal for government leaders. It is also not just a federal solution-- states across the country are also seeking to implement and incentivize domestic manufacturing policies.
It goes without saying that campaign promises around domestic manufacturing and actual policy implementation are two very different things. This policy space comes with many complexities - from labor costs to geographical realities of where current supply chains are located (much of which is in Asia).
In cases where domestic manufacturing policy has worked at scale, it has come with a cost that Congress will not be able to replicate across all industries. For examples, the CHIPS and Science Act spent over $50 billion to create a domestic semiconductor manufacturing sector, for example.
We should all expect that there will be a big focus over the next four years on domestic manufacturing and the White House will have a receptive audience in Congress. But it will take time for solutions to form and it is more likely that tax and trade will be the policy spaces that lead the debate in the near term.
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